Close Enough
by cj.sharpiequeen
Summary: Jesse's been an ass for the last week and a half, being the coach of the Warblers and all, so he decides to do something nice for reed. Jesse St James/ Reed Van Kamp. Dalton/Glee crossover  or something like that . One Shot. Characters are not mine.


Jesse was angry a lot recently. Sometimes the Warblers just refused to perform and that made him murderous, and he tended to take a lot of it out on Reed. He felt bad about this. The boy was so fragile, and so perfect, and Jesse could see every harsh word reflected in another little crack in his perfection. Jesse had never intended to destroy what made Reed, Reed. He'd wanted to protect the boy from everything, take the brunt of the worlds beating for himself. He was used to that, he'd done it his whole life.

But little things that Reed did made it impossible, and the boy probably didn't even notice. Reed had taken away his defense mechanisms. Jesse now had to make a conscious effort to cut, because it wasn't just his already scarred arm, it was at his ankle, where he had to work to get to. This meant he thought more when he cut, and it made him realize that sometimes, everything just isn't his fault. And moreso, when things became stressful, Jesse could go cold, but now, Reed had seen him cold, Reed knew the difference between normal and cold, and he had hurt Reed when he was cold.

Jesse couldn't hurt Reed. And that was what he'd been doing. Between pushing the boys hard at Warblers practice, and Reed taking the brunt of his anger over the situation with Blaine and Kurt, he'd just been horrible to the boy, and he intended to take Thursday to buy Reed something for Valentines day. Something that would make him remember why he loved him.

When he'd walked into the jewelry store, of course, people flocked to him. This was Ohio, and Jesse was somewhat of a local celebrity, having led a Glee Club to nationals twice. So people knew his name enough so that he got excellent customer service anywhere he went. Well now, he needed to buy something for his boy, for his slice of perfection, for the boy who had everything he could ever want and more.

After discussing the issue with the jeweler, Jesse decided on silver bracelet, with a sturdy clasp so Reed wouldn't lose it or break it by falling or snagging it on something, and thick, but intricate chains that arose from the clasp, and then an inch long plate of silver in the middle. This, Jesse could have engraved, and he did so, delighting in his own creativity.

Needless to say, he was in a much better mood Friday, spending some quality time with Reed, something he should have been doing all along. The box was sitting in Jesse's hiding place, next to his flask and his razor blade. He hadn't touched either of the items in a few weeks, but they were still there, just in case, and hidden so that somebody would have to know what they were looking for to find them.

Saturday and Sunday had been Warbler practices, which of course meant that it left the boys physically and emotionally drained, and looking at Reed after practice on Sunday, Jesse gave in. Valentines day was tomorrow, it wasn't to early to give him a present. He whispered something in Kurt's ear and then headed back to his dorm to retrieve the gift.

He then walked back across campus and knocked on Reed's door. "Reed?"

"I'm not getting up! I'm in pain Jesse and it's YOUR FAULT." Reeds voice was half a whine and half anger that Jesse knew exactly how to diffuse. It made him roll his eyes. There were times when Reed acted like a three year old.

"Reed, is the door locked?"

"No." He heard Reed huff.

"Can I come in?"

There was a pause. "Fine."

Jesse entered and closed the door behind him, locking it discretely. He turned back to look at Reed and tried to to let his jaw drop. The boy was face down on the bed, face pressed into the pillows. His shirt was riding up and a tiny bit of his cream skin was visible, and his ass. Jesse re-checked his self control and walked over to the bed, sitting on the edge of it, running a finger down Reeds spine. "Reed, I bought you something."

This caught the boys attention and he turned his head so he could see Jesse, "For what?"

Jesse rolled his eyes, "For Valentines day, silly. I'm giving it to you today, though, because you are too adorable to resist and it's been sitting in my room since Thursday and I'm dying to see your reaction." He leaned down and kissed the top of Reed's nose.

Reed signed and sat up, whimpering. Jesse frowned. Was he really working the boys that hard? It was a 6 hour practice, jeez. He smiled at Reed, kissing his mouth gently and running a hand through his disheveled hair. "It's not much, and someone like you, who has everything he could ever want and more, its really simple, I just. I've been horrible to you, baby, and I want to start making up for it. This is the first step."

He handed Reed the box and he opened it gently, hands careful on the wrapping and when he saw the bracelet, Jesse could see tears in the boys eyes. And a smile on his beautiful face. On one side of the silver plate were the words "I Love You" in casual but pretty script, and the other side had Reed's name and a heart and then in the bottom corner, JS. Reed looked up at him a minute later, unable to form words. Jesse kissed him deeply, and then smiled at him.

He took it from the box and put it on Reeds wrist. There. Now even after next month, if I get this broadway show, i'll always be near you. And you can come visit me every weekend if you want to. But don't think about that now, you have me now. I love you, Reed Van Kamp."

The boy looked up at him, tears still in his eyes and then threw his arms around his shoulders, pulling Jesse to him tightly, face buried in Jesse's shoulder. Jesses arms held Reed close, and he kissed the side of the boys head. He heard, through his own bittersweet tears, Reeds whispered, "I love you too Jesse St. James."

Sure, everything was going to change, and he had been horrible to the people around him, but they hadn't abandoned him. Reed still loved him. He still held the smaller boy tightly in his arms, and never wanted to let him go. He smiled into Reeds shoulder, pressing a light kiss. Everything was going to be alright, as long as he had Reed.


End file.
